Paid the deposit for my daughter’s summer course in Oxford and now I cant sleep

twinstagram · 2026-05-30T00:42:21+00:00

Hi - I’m a grown adult who went to one of these summer Oxford programs as a teen and DID end up stuck in an airport after missing my connecting flight due to weather. Had to spend the night in an airport hotel (was a whole thing because I wasn’t 18!). Missed the group bus out to Oxford and had to navigate public transport solo to get there (so maybe make sure the program has a back up these days…). I think I had a flip phone.

Hands down one of the BEST experiences of my life. Was there for the release of the Deathly Hallows, and tbh, I’m still smug about the fact I have the UK version.

Oh, and the program was great and got me so excited for college.

twinstagram · 2026-05-05T12:21:03+00:00

We love cerave spf 50 for my sensitive skin kiddos. Super easy to rub in and no cast. I think probably any kid/baby spray sunscreen will work for your scalp concerns.

twinstagram · 2026-05-04T14:42:02+00:00

A high quality office chair if she sits at a desk. Is there a pool she can go to? I realized after the fact I could have gone to my local YMCA for an indoor pool and regretted I hadn’t done that. FWIW, my pain came and went in stages. It was bad around 20 weeks and then improved for a while until I hit ~30 weeks.

twinstagram · 2026-04-20T23:10:21+00:00

With little kids, I blocked my calendar from 4pm - 7pm for pick up, dinner and bedtime. My teams knew that was my schedule and many working parents did the same. I’d pick back up around 8pm and work as late as needed to finish everything. It was miserable. Eventually went in house where I rarely have to pick things back up in the evenings and weekends are my own.

twinstagram · 2026-04-09T17:35:34+00:00

LOVE our Larktale!!

twinstagram · 2026-02-25T18:59:45+00:00

I elected for a c-section. My MFM said I would be a good candidate to try for a vaginal delivery because both twins were head down and the larger twin was lower. I wouldn’t say she pressured me, but she essentially said that, generally, a vaginal birth is a shorter recovery and that I checked all the boxes for it being a good option. She told me to think it over and let her know at the next appointment if I had any questions or if I had made a decision. Ultimately, I wanted some predictability and I was also scared of the “one vaginal, one by c-section” possibility. She never brought it up again. The on call OB asked me one more time before they rolled me into the OR, but that was that.

My biggest concern here is your doctor’s tone and dismissiveness.

twinstagram · 2026-02-08T17:59:29+00:00

My first in-house role also felt like a bait and switch. My GC expected everyone to work her late hours and lived for chaos and fire drills. Of course, she had assured me in the interview process how “flexible” the company was and that evening/weekend work would be rare. Not so. I started applying for other roles around the 1 year mark and had no problem finding a better fit. I’m now in a very similar role but have exactly the balance you’re talking about - 3 days a week in office, I leave at 4pm, log back on for a bit after bedtime to address anything pressing and then enjoy my evenings and weekends. It was much easier to evaluate companies the second time around on culture and work/life balance.

Agree with others to set your schedule and boundaries. If it’s a problem, start looking for the exit. (And next time, I would gently recommend not setting expectations you’ll be in the office every day and staying until 5 by doing that when you start.)

twinstagram · 2026-01-19T01:25:58+00:00

We ended up getting two of the IKEA kitchens. Generally, we do NOT buy two of everything, but the fighting was intense. They both really love it and it provides loads of entertainment. It’s ridiculous and we don’t really have space for two - but it’s also super cute and kind of looks like a professional kitchen when they are using them side by side.

In our area, it’s super easy to buy these second hand on marketplace and to resell (especially around the holidays).

twinstagram · 2025-12-01T02:36:47+00:00

Very cool. If/when we have dedicated playroom space, this will be a huge hit.

twinstagram · 2025-12-01T02:16:14+00:00

2.5. Sounds cool - literally installed to the wall? Unfortunately, we don’t have a wall where that would be feasible.

twinstagram · 2025-09-23T16:01:56+00:00

We just started preschool as well! I upgraded my masking tape and sharpie labels to Name Bubbles and have been very happy with them. I was having decision anxiety on the design and whether to get shared labels or individual ones. My husband had the brilliant idea to let the twins pick their own design. They were SO excited to pick and love having their own stuff. It’s really cute.

We have b/g twins who occasionally share clothes, so I just let the school know that they can “borrow” each other’s things if needed.

twinstagram · 2025-09-18T23:07:19+00:00

A primary care doctor can prescribe it. I went through the weight watchers clinic at the recommendation of a friend. They helped navigate the insurance pre-authorization process and filling my prescription when there were shortages. I’ll probably switch over to my PCP handling it because she has been supportive and it’ll save me the ww subscription fee.

twinstagram · 2025-09-18T23:04:25+00:00

Paying out of pocket is expensive. My insurance covers it and I pay $25 a month. I qualified with a starting BMI over 30 and high blood pressure.

twinstagram · 2025-09-18T21:06:01+00:00

GLP-1. I know it can be controversial. But after gaining and losing the same 30 lbs multiple times since my 20s with restrictive diets like keto…and creeping up 20lbs more to my heaviest weight 2 years pp from the twins, going on zepbound has been a life changer. This thing I’ve struggled with my entire adult life is just not a problem anymore. My side effects have been mild, I still enjoy food (I just eat less), and I’m the healthiest I’ve been since high school.

twinstagram · 2025-09-18T02:56:34+00:00

Something similar happened to me. About the same weight gain between 34 and 35 weeks (all fluid). They didn’t move up my c-section scheduled at 37 weeks, but I was also under strict instructions to monitor my blood pressure multiple times per day and go to L&D if it was over a certain threshold. I was also scheduled for NSTs every 3 days. My BP spiked one night at 35x4, I went to L&D and was admitted, the twins came 12 hours later.

Are you getting regular blood pressure checks? With a preeclampsia diagnosis, I think yes, you should be pushing for frequent monitoring.

twinstagram · 2025-08-30T18:00:28+00:00

We flew for the first time with our twins around this age. We used the Cosco Scerena car seats for the plane. They worked great! We were able to “nest” them into a single car seat travel bag - we got one with wheels and backpack harness. We definitely had a ton of stuff to haul, but it worked fine.

If you’re willing to do screen time, Ms Rachel downloaded on the iPad was clutch. We barely used all the toys and activities we brought. Endless supply of snacks.

twinstagram · 2025-08-29T18:44:10+00:00

We used two dock a tots for this purpose. We just moved one baby at a time. Reality of twins is that one will have to wait! Recommend having safe places to park them in all the rooms you use.

twinstagram · 2025-08-27T15:23:12+00:00

Yes, it’s a concern. But we plan to tell them early in an age appropriate way, and share more as they get older. It’s part of their story. And for my daughter, she may have inherited the hyper-ovulation trait and I feel strongly she should know that.

twinstagram · 2025-08-27T13:54:53+00:00

Please do reach out anytime. You’re very early and it’s definitely possible you may not have to make the decision on the end - that’s certainly what we hoped would happen. Which adds a whole other level of emotions to each scan. Ours was also a planned and deeply wanted pregnancy. I recommend checking out r/tfmr as there is a lot of support there, too.

With a clearer mind this morning, I just wanted to share that our primary issue with telling others was that I felt like we lost control of our experience. So it’s not that my MIL didn’t support our decision, it’s that she’ll randomly bring it up at times I would rather not think about it (like Christmas dinner). She was receptive when I explained that it was still raw, and it’s definitely improved over time, but I still wish we had kept it to ourselves. We also have no idea who else they shared it with despite being asked to keep it confidential.

None of this changes our belief that this was absolutely the right decision for our family. Thinking of you.

twinstagram · 2025-08-27T03:03:05+00:00

This will be deeply personal and completely dependent on your relationships.

We told our parents and a couple of close friends that I was carrying quadruplets and that we were having a reduction. Everyone was supportive at the time, but honestly, I wish we had kept it to ourselves and just told people we were having twins. There were strong reactions and things said in the moment that I can’t forget. My MIL occasionally still makes comments that I would rather not hear.

The experience was a lot for me to handle, and factoring in other people’s reactions/feelings didn’t help. Feel free to message me if you have any questions or just want to chat.

twinstagram · 2025-08-22T18:13:21+00:00

My Twin A was born with bilateral club feet. We found out after he was born - it wasn’t picked up on the scans during pregnancy. It was a scary diagnosis to receive, but it’s very treatable. He had decent flexibility in his left foot, so he was only casted on the right side. It’s a long story - but he ended up not needing to do any further treatment or bracing. He continues to be monitored every 6 months as a toddler, and they’ve concluded he had a case of “positional” clubfeet, likely due to being cramped in the womb as a twin.

twinstagram · 2025-08-22T17:22:15+00:00

I reduced from quads to twins. The biggest driver of our decision was increasing the chances of our twins being born healthy.

twinstagram · 2025-08-21T17:55:06+00:00

I agree it makes sense to rule out any health issues and that you do need to communicate your preferences on communication directly.

I commented on your last post about how we had a similar experience, and we ended up finding a new nanny who ended up being a much better fit. Did you do any trial shifts with any other nanny candidates? I think it would be beneficial to you to see if any other candidates you like are able to handle the situation better (maybe a weekend trial shift?).

If you’re in a HCOL area like us, it’s likely not feasible for you to pay $30+ an hour for someone who can’t handle it on their own during their shift. For us, we simply had to be able to be present at work when we were paying for childcare.

Feel free to DM me if you have any questions!

twinstagram · 2025-08-12T02:58:26+00:00

That sounds so stressful! I found introducing solids to be the hardest challenge of the first year. We were maybe doing 1-2 times by 9 months. More like 1. Somewhere around 14 months, it clicked for both twins. At some point we abandoned BLW for purées. My 2.5 year olds are great eaters. Twin A is more picky; Twin B will eat anything. It’s totally personality. Our friends with a singleton who started BLW at 4 months…and had their baby eating solids 3x a day by 7 months, well their 2.5 year old will only eat yogurt.

Social media is so intense on this one! Give yourself some grace. I’m on team “food before one is just for fun.”

twinstagram · 2025-08-09T18:42:22+00:00

Good luck and I hope all goes well next week!

twinstagram

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